Moscow ‘Regrets’ Missile Incident : Projectile May Have Strayed, Soviets Admit

The Soviet Union admitted today that an unarmed Soviet target missile might have strayed into the airspace of Finland and Norway. The Soviets said they regret the incident.

Moscow’s ambassadors in Oslo, the Norwegian capital, and in Helsinki, capital of Finland, expressed their regrets in meetings with the two countries’ foreign ministers, the governments of Norway and Finland announced.

The meetings, requested by the Soviets, came after Norway lodged a protest in Moscow over the violation of its airspace and after the Finnish Foreign Ministry called in a representative of the Soviet Embassy to ask about the reported intrusion by a low-flying projectile Dec. 28.

Target Went Astray

In a statement, the Finnish Foreign Ministry said Soviet Ambassador V. M. Sobolev told Foreign Minister Paavo Vavrynen that a firing target went astray during a Soviet navy exercise in the Barents Sea.

Sobolev said “it might have been possible that the target might at that point have violated Finnish airspace,” the ministry reported. “Sobolev expressed his government’s regrets because of what happened.”

In Oslo, Norwegian Foreign Minister Svenn Stray said the apology was delivered by Soviet Ambassador Dmitri Polyanski, who gave an account similar to Sobolev’s.

Norway said Wednesday that what may have been a Soviet cruise missile strayed into Norwegian airspace Dec. 28 and disappeared over Finland. Danish intelligence sources, however, said Thursday that the low-flying projectile is more likely to have been a target drone used for Soviet firing exercises. (Story, Page 8)

Weather Hinders Search

The Finnish border guard issued a statement today saying bad weather is hampering its search for traces of the missile, which Norway said crashed near Lake Inari in Lapland, about 10 miles from the Soviet border.

Lt. Col. Olli Toivonen, deputy commander of the Finnish border guard in Lapland, said it is possible that the projectile crashed in Norwegian territory.

He noted that all but one of the reports from people who allegedly heard an explosion or the roar of a flying object Dec. 28 came from a part of Norway abutting Finland and the Soviet Union.

Some Western European officials and analysts stressed that the reported intrusion presumably was accidental. Diplomatic sources said privately that reaction is being muted so as not to “rock the boat” before the reopening of the U.S.-Soviet arms dialogue next week.